This was the biggest payout for an individual golf wager in William Hill US history.
The comeback is complete! Tiger Woods had not won a major since the 2008 US Open, but on Sunday, he won the 2019 Masters Tournament and took home his fifth green jacket. Tiger came from behind for the victory, and it resulted in a wild Sunday of golf.
Woods had the fourth best odds heading into Masters week, sitting at 14-1 at most sportsbooks. He was a popular bet, but one person is taking home a particularly big prize.
Approximately 48 hours before Woods teed off, a bettor placed an $85,000 wager on him to win the tournament. He got 14-1 odds, which mean a win would result in a net gain of $1,190,000. William Hill US said it was the single-largest liability for an individual golf wager in their history.
William Hill released a statement following Woods’ epic victory.
“It’s great to see Tiger back. It’s a painful day for William Hill — our biggest golf loss ever — but a great day for golf.” – Nick Bogdanovich, William Hill US director of trading
A week ago, Alex Kirshner and I tried to sell you on the foolishness of betting on Woods this week. We made it clear Woods could win the tournament, but the 14-1 odds were simply too low for him. There were quite a few better values, whether it be Xander Schauffele at 40-1 or even Dustin Johnson at 10-1. While Johnson had shorter odds than Tiger, he had also been playing more consistently. All things considered, Woods was simply overvalued.
My guess is the $85,000 sports bettor was somebody who could easily afford to lose that kind of money. If you put some money on Woods because of the enjoyment of tracking Woods, so be it. It turned into an incredibly fun week seeing him climb back to the mountaintop, and more power to you if you walk away from the weekend with a financial windfall.
The next major is the PGA Championship in May, followed by the US Open in June and the British Open in July. It’s safe to say sportsbooks will be lowering Woods odds and bringing in a ton more bets the next three months. Casinos are likely taking a bath this weekend thanks to Woods, and it’s safe to say they’ll be on edge heading into the remaining three majors.